A truly magnificent panorama of garden design for professional and designers and garden travelers alike. Internationally renowned expert Jean-Paul Pigeat sets out to examine both the enduring styles and the bold new trends in garden design. Pigeat juxtaposes traditional and contemporary garden designs, exploring their themes as expressions of a culture’s artistic creativity and social structure. Pigeat retraces his steps through famous and lesser-known gardens around the world. From the ostentatious design of Versailles, where the layout reflects power, to the inspired innovation of the Eden Project in England, which aims to teach visitors about the environment, to the cutting-edge Gas Works Park in Seattle, Washington, which reclaimed a former industrial site. Lavishly illustrated, with a lush format and informative text this truly magnificent panorama of garden design will meet the expectations of professional and designers and garden travelers alike.
Magnetic North: The Landscapes of Tom Uttech
One of the most widely admired landscape painters in America, Tom Uttech merges nineteenth-century notions of the ideal landscape with aspects of surrealism and photo-realism to create his unique vision of the North Woods. The artist reestablishes the wilderness as a mystical and magical place where the animal kingdom reigns, the colors of nature flourish, and the forces of the wild are played out. Uttech is inspired by his treks through Wisconsin prairies and woodlands and his camping and canoeing trips to northern Minnesota and Quetico Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada.
Uttech’s paintings are distinguished from those of most contemporary landscape artists in that he does no drawings, studies, or photographs while on these excursions. His paintings are studio inventions based entirely on memory and improvisation. Uttech’s landscapes have been described as “pure fantasy and, at the same time, absolutely true to nature.” His use of high-key colors and his depictions of seemingly airless environments give his work a surreal quality. The intricate detail achieved through the artist’s precise painterly touch gives the surfaces of his work a high degree of patterning and articulation. More recently, Uttech has begun to add painted or carved elements to his handmade frames, which are integral components of his work. In addition to paintings, the retrospective also features a selection of the artist’s prints and photographs.
Finding Landscaping Ideas
Backyard Landscape Ideas
For most people, their backyard is their refuge from the daily grind. Relaxing in a beautifully designed backyard can quickly become one of your favorite things to do ever. Other people find that making their backyard into the beautiful area that they love is what gives them the most relaxation and satisfaction. If you want a yard that you can relax and enjoy time in, then you will want to keep your eyes open, because you will find inspiration in places that you do not even expect.
Visiting other people’s homes is a great way to find landscaping ideas for your home. Even though you do not want your yard to look exactly like your friend’s yard, but you can find some ideas and inspiration from look at their landscaping. Other areas where you may find some ideas include parks, businesses, or even botanical gardens. Many of these areas are landscaped by professionals and this is a great way for you to get some landscaping design ideas for your own home.
If looking at other yards is not giving you any landscaping ideas, then you may want to try watching HGTV to see if you can get some ideas from there. This television station is concentrated on home and garden improvements and the shows can give you ideas, instructions, and tips to get your home improvement and landscaping projects done. You will be able to find an idea for any sized yard that you can imagine, as well as different things that you can add to your landscaping design that you may not even have thought of. There are shows devoted to gardening care and for choosing plants that will thrive in your climate.
You may want to think about adding something new to your yard to give yourself something to work around. Some ideas that you may want to consider are a pool, deck, or an outdoor fireplace. This can help spark landscaping ideas for your yard. You will find that these items can be a jumping off point for your landscaping. Another idea that you can consider is a sitting area around an outdoor fireplace or a garden area around or near your pool.
If you just cannot come up with any landscaping ideas, then you may want to ask for some help at your local home and garden store of look through magazines. Strolling through a garden store may even give you some ideas. If you still do not have any ideas, then you may want to ask a salesperson for some advice. This should be able to tell you what other customers are buying or may be able to give you some ideas of their own.